Complete Too Late
by Alex Parker
Summary: Three weeks after start of term, a strange girl shows up emrging from the Forbidden Forest. She takes to Harry immediately. Meanwhile, Hermine's struggling with some pretty complicated feelings. In the end, one of them will die.
1. Part One

Intro: I'm not quite sure where this story is going. well, yes I do! Hermione's going through some changes (a major one at the end), and Harry's on the lookout for Voldemort again. And what is up with the new girl, Lyandra? Read to find out! More chapters coming soon, I promise.  
  
Disclaimer: Looking in the mirror, I see myself, not JK Rowling. Damn! That means the only one I own here is Lyandra. Poo.  
  
1 Complete Too Late  
  
Chapter one  
  
I walked down the stairs to the Great Hall for dinner. Alone. If I hadn't been absorbed so much in my secret thoughts, I would have felt awkward. Or maybe, just maybe, I would have heard her come up behind me.  
  
"Hermione?" I cried out in surprise and slid down a few steps before catching myself on the banister.  
  
Turning around, I snapped, "Lyandra! Don't do that to me!" Softening as the new student looked ashamed, I added, "I'm ok. You just surprised me, is all." I stood up and brushed off my robes. "Will you accompany me to the Great Hall for dinner?" Lyandra nodded and I started again with her by my side, but she remained silent. I returned to her thoughts.  
  
I had, indeed, just been thinking about the strange new girl. Lyandra Cullyn, she had called herself, had hit Hogwarts three weeks after the start of term like a tornado. One evening when Harry was on his way back from Quidditch practice, he noticed a dark figure fleeing out of the Forbidden Forest. The person tripped, presumably over a root, and fell down with a loud thud. Incredibly, Harry was the only one who saw this, and hastily created an excuse to stay behind. When the rest of the Gryffindor team had gone ahead of him and disappeared into the castle, he rushed over to the person, now silent and not moving. Harry tried all he could to rouse her, with no avail. Finally, seeing Hagrid's cabin was closer than the school, he picked up the unconscious body and carried her with ease to the groundskeeper's house. They had fetched Dumbledore, and brought the now awake girl to the infirmary.  
  
That was a week ago, and only one person had been successful in dragging the entire story of her arrival out of Lyandra. Dumbledore, obviously. Dumbledore had offered her a bed and a place among the students here at Hogwarts, and she accepted. Naturally. She had, to my surprise, insisted upon staying by Harry's side, with the approval of the Sorting Hat, of course. Later when I thought about it, it did make sense. He was her savior, after all. She did seem lost, out of it. The only things she knew were who she was and where she was - Hogwarts. She didn't know anything more than that - at least, nothing she was letting on to the rest of us.  
  
"Hermione?" Lyandra shook me out of my ponderings, making me realize I had bypassed the doors to the Great Hall by about ten feet. Doubling back, I followed her as she made her way to an empty seat next to Harry at the Gryffindor table. I took my normal seat - or normal since Lyandra's advent - next to Ron.  
  
"Hey Hermione, Lyandra. I was wondering when you two would grace us with your presence!" Seamus called down the table. Lyandra gave him a smile, shy smile and turned to her mashed potatoes and carrots.  
  
"Hermione, have you finished your Potions essay yet?" Ron asked innocently.  
  
In spite of myself, I replied, "Yes Ron, and no, you can't have a look. You'll never learn anything if you always copy off me!" Then again, I thought, I never let him copy! Would once really hurt?  
  
Shaking my head, I started on my food. Ron leaned closer to me as Harry and Lyandra threw themselves into a heated discussion about Quidditch. I thought he was going to make a comment about how cute they were, but as always, Ron surprised me.  
  
"Are you okay, Hermione? You've been quiet lately, subdued. You're not even speaking up in class. What's the matter?" Ron placed his hand on mine, and I looked away. Only last year, if he had done that, it would have sent shivers up my spine. But now, nothing. What was wrong with me?  
  
"I'm ok Ron." I heard myself say, though I was screaming inside to tell him there was something wrong. "I think I'm just tired, that's all. Overworked." Although he didn't look convinced, he turned back to his food and tossed in a few comments to Harry and Lyandra. I was left to my thoughts. Again.  
  
He touched me. Ron touched my hand. For years, I had been in love with Ron. Well, not in love, per say, but I loved him with a passion. Since our first year at Hogwarts, I loved him. Now we were in our fifth year. How much had changed? Between the three of us, not much. I was always in love with Ron. Ron and Harry were always best friends. I never felt like I was a third wheel - until this year. It was as if I was dead inside. Ron was right. I was even neglecting my schoolwork. I had a feeling of foreboding in the pit of my stomach. I had had it all summer. But what was wrong? I knew one thing, one part of my problem. Part of me was scared. I knew that.  
  
At school, everyone - including the teachers - tried to act like nothing was wrong, but maybe we were all just very good at acting. Everyday, more Muggles were killed; more witches; more wizards. More children, more animals, more lives, more futures. You-Know-Who was running loose. He was underground - no one actually knew it was him. Someone would just find more people dead. But everyone at school, knowing the basic story of what happened with Harry at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, somehow knew it was Him. With a capital H. So I was scared. I was Muggle-born, after all, and one of Harry's closest friends. As much as I love Harry and worry for his safety, I can't help but feel worried about me too. Could I be in danger? 


	2. Part Two

Over the next week, Ron kept a close eye on me. He never actually asked what was wrong; he just knew something was and wanted to make sure I was all right. Harry was too busy with Lyandra to notice, or care. Or both.  
  
One day before Halloween, a sign was posted in the entrance hall. Voluntary Halloween Party it read. Last class will be cut short Friday, and all students interested are allowed out on the lawns until midnight. It sounded rather interesting, and the normal Hermione would have been ecstatic to go. But I just shrugged it off and proceeded to go up to bed.  
  
Once I reached the dormitory, Lyandra pounced on me.  
  
"Hermione, what's up? You seem so depressed. Ron told me you never used to be like this." I scowled. How cute of him to send HER to my rescue.  
  
"I'm fine, Lyandra." Of course, this was a lie, and she could tell.  
  
"Big fibber!" she cried as she danced around me. My face went red. Big fibber? I hoped Parvati or Lavender could come in at this moment and end this humiliation.  
  
"There's something wrong with you, Hermione, and I'm determined to figure it out."  
  
"There is nothing wrong with me, Lyandra, and if you will please excuse me I need to tend to my schoolwork."  
  
"No you don't. We don't have any homework, and you never study."  
  
You never study. That comment got to me. I used to always be dissolved into my books. What had happened?  
  
"Well, I'm studying now! And tell Ron if he wants to harass me, to have him do it himself. You don't need to be his lapdog; you're already doing fine with Harry!" The second it came out, I regretted it. I went too far. Lyandra's smile faded instantly and she walked to the door.  
  
"Fine," she snapped. "Can do." She stalked out and slammed the door behind her. I considered going after her, but decided against it. She wasn't worth my time.  
  
But I needed to talk to someone. I needed… I needed a companion that understood what I was going through, even if I didn't. I felt darker; more evil. And I knew there was one person who could help me with that. Leaving my roommates a note to not wait up for me, I left Gryffindor Tower and headed down to the Slytherin dungeons. 


	3. Part Three

*3rd person PoV now*  
  
Hermione walked, not thinking where she was going, until she noticed Snape's classroom. She knew she must be close, but she had no idea where the Slytherin dorms were. She found herself wandering around a bit more until a voice behind her made her jump.  
  
"Aren't you that know-it-all Gryffindor?" Hermione spun around. A tall boy with black hair and eyes to match was staring her down. She nodded. "What the hell are you doing down here then?"  
  
"Looking for a little excitement." The boy continued to stare at her, until his face broke and he smiled.  
  
"Excitement, eh? Well, you came to the right place. I'm Damien, a 7th year Slytherin."  
  
"I'm in 5th year."  
  
"You're a young one, not bad. Nice body, pretty fit. Well, let's go." A wave of panic shot through Hermione. Go where? She had no time to debate though, as he took her arm and led her to an empty classroom. She had an idea that this wasn't what she wanted at all. "I hope you don't mind if we use this room, but my fellow roommates in my dorm would want to share, and you don't look like you could take it."  
  
"Take what?"  
  
"Why, the excitement, dear." Out of thin air, Damien conjured a folding bed and some candles.  
  
"What are those for?" Hermione asked, getting more and more terrified.  
  
"What, you don't expect to do this on the floor, do you? I'm more of a gentleman than that!"  
  
Now Hermione knew what this boy wanted, and she realized no matter how dark she thought she was, she didn't want this at all. She wanted to be upstairs in front of the Gryffindor fire, playing chess with Ron and losing spectacularly. She didn't want to be down in this grungy dungeon, awaiting the terrible things this strange boy had in mind.  
  
"Now, lay down, mon amie, and I'll start."  
  
"Start what?" Hermione asked, her voice audibly quavering. Damien suddenly got a very crazed look in his eyes. He walked towards her, grabbing her now outstretched wand and throwing it aside. She tried to speak, but he clamped a hand over her mouth.  
  
"You're not going to make a noise, right?" he growled. Hermione stood perfectly still, and squeaked a reply. He held her tighter. "I said, don't make a noise!"  
  
Damien kept walking, forcing Hermione to step backwards and fall onto the bed. He laid her down roughly on the bed and proceeded to strip off her clothes. As soon as he took the hand off of her mouth, she screamed loudly and shrilly. Damien looked at her fiercely and with a wave of his wand, bound and gagged her mouth. As an extra precaution, he bound up her hands and feet to the legs of the bed so she couldn't move.  
  
He quickly started to disrobe her again, and looked her over. Leaning down, Damien met his lips with hers and feverishly kissed her. His hands ran down the length of her body and she felt herself go rigid.  
  
Closing her eyes, Hermione tried to block out what he was doing to her. She had succeeded so far. The pressure of his body on hers increased and she started to sweat. Soon, she blacked out.  
  
Coming in and out of consciousness within the next half an hour proved desperate for her. She wished with every fiber of her being that she was up in her own room, giggling innocently with Parvati and Lavender, no matter how much she might despise them. She wished she were with Harry and Ron the way they used to be. She even found herself wishing she were with Lyandra! Anywhere but here, being abused by some stranger in the one place she felt safe enough to call home.  
  
After a while, she was jerked back into consciousness by the instantaneous absence of pressure upon her body. She heard skin hitting concrete, and tried to lift her head but found her neck could hardly twist; he had bruised her badly. She heard Damien cry out in pain, and then he was silent. Hermione felt the bonds broken free from her wrists and legs and the gag taken out of her mouth. Her unknown savior gasped. "Hermione?" She tried to open her eyes, and when she did, her gasp matched his.  
  
"Draco?" Hermione temporarily lost all sense of reality as she looked up into the deep blue eyes of her enemy, now ironically her savior. After a minute, she quickly realized she was still exposed and tried to cover herself up. Draco noticed too, and turned away, giving her his cloak to cover herself up with as her robes had all been torn.  
  
"Granger, I… I…" Draco tried, but seemed beyond words. With one last glance, he walked out. 


End file.
